Weekend violence leaves 11 dead in L.A. County

Several of the killings appear to be gang related, authorities say.

At least 11 people were slain in Los Angeles County over the weekend, and authorities suspect several of the killings were gang related. Nine took place in the city of Los Angeles.

The number of killings is not unprecedented, but it is greater than the county's homicide rate, which is between two and three a day.

Many of the names of the dead were not available from the coroner's office. Only one person has been arrested.

The latest shooting occurred about 1:40 p.m. Sunday in the 8400 block of Greenbush Avenue in Panorama City where a man on a bicycle asked two men where they were from, then shot them. The victims were taken to a hospital, where one died and the other was in stable condition.

Saturday night in southeast Los Angeles, a 20-year-old man was standing at 95th Street and Vermont Avenue when three men shot him several times, said Los Angeles Police Department Officer Sara Faden.

Faden said a killing in southeast Los Angeles early Sunday may have been gang-related. Edward Jones Jr., 20, was shot in the 1400 block of East 111th Place about 2 a.m.

Not long after, four gang members started a fight at a bar near Hill Street and 24th Street in the Newton area, police said. The fight ended with one person shot dead and another with gunshot wounds. The coroner's office identified the dead man as 37-year-old Jose Villalobos of Bell.

The six other homicides:

A man in his 30s was found beaten to death in the 9100 block of Bartee Avenue in Arleta shortly after midnight Saturday. Police spokeswoman Norma Eisenman said the man may have been killed elsewhere and his body dumped there.

About two hours later in the Newton area, a man was killed after people in two cars got into an argument while driving near 66th Street and Broadway. Two men from one car shot the other driver, hitting him in the chest and causing him to crash, Faden said. Paramedics took him to a hospital, where he died.

A man in his early 20s was shot to death near Perlita Avenue and Veselich Avenue in northeast Los Angeles about 7:45 p.m. Saturday, police said.

In North Hollywood, near Saticoy Street and Morella Avenue, a 40-year-old man was killed about 11:40 p.m. Saturday after a man hit him with a bottle and then stabbed him with its broken stem, police said.

Police arrested Kenneth Harris, 44, on Sunday on suspicion of shooting 29-year-old Soccoro Lopez about 2:40 a.m. in Panorama City. Authorities said Harris was trying to rob Lopez, who was in a parked car near the corner of Nordhoff Street and Columbus Avenue. Lopez was shot in the torso.

The Sheriff's Department reported that a man was shot and killed about 1 p.m. Sunday in the 2500 block of Sale Place in Walnut Park.